Following Jesus out of fear and violence, into Love and Peace – Real Life Radio: Episode 004 with Keith Giles [Podcast]

I wanted to host Keith on the program because he was very instrumental (without knowing it) in causing me to seriously re-think my understanding of Jesus’ commands of non-violence for His followers. In light of recent events such as ISIS and the new American Sniper movie (which I wrote about here) – the topic of violence vs. non-violence – especially for professed followers of Christ, has been heating up.

There are very few topics that cause so much opposition, challenge and discomfort as this. That’s usually a good signal that we, as a people, need to do ALOT more talking about it, with each other. So, that’s what Keith and I are doing here.

What you will hear:

Keith’s background, ministry, books, writing, passions, etc. – and why following Jesus into non-violence is of particular interest to him

Brandon’s personal testimony of hearing the message of Jesus and the non-violent Gospel, really, for the first time, and how it impacted him

“What about if there is an intruder in your home?” “What about the Old Testament?” “What about Hitler?”

Love “disarms.” How? And why is this important?

Justice from God: it is restorative to BOTH the oppressed, AND the oppressor

Why is this message in particular, so difficult for Christians to follow? Why is there so much pushback?

American Christian Nationalism – perhaps the most dangerous (and deadly) idol of our day

There are really only two operating paradigms of the human experience: Love and fear. What are the characteristics of each? How can you tell which paradigm you are living in? How does it connect to the issue of violence/non-violence? Why does it matter?

See the bottom of this post for a comprehensive list of the podcasts and articles, mentioned in the podcast, from Keith on non-violence. Many of these specifically address the “What if” and “What about” pushback questions.

Subversive Radio Podcasts:
Jesus: The Prince of Peace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVPxbbi48p8Following Jesus Into Nonviolencehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyF94gDF558The Power of the Gospelhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ05hCPGH6g